This is
probably the biggest question that grips those
who are about to cross this Iron Gate. While
some might have planned their career carefully and relevantly,
it is likely that many others simply haven’t. There is
inadequate knowledge and information about the
career prospects available in Nepal. And many
students seem totally confused.
Career planning is a crucial part of
student life. A smartly selected career offers
myriad opportunities while a silly choice leads
to nowhere. The changing global employment
scenario and involvement of technology in almost
all the sectors and a fierce competition among the talents
have made the job market quite tough. In this background,
holding a degree just doesn’t count much. One must
possess adequate knowledge about the field
which he chooses to pursue his career in. All
that matters in this changing environment is a
wide knowledge, not just academic excellence.
With consistent reforms brought about
in the educational sector, Nepal has recently
taken a giant leap. There was a time when our
elders had to go to some Indian universities to
pursue different studies. But now times have
changed and for good. We have medical colleges
all over the country vying to attract the students not only
from within the country but also from abroad. Various Nepali
colleges are getting affiliated to renowned
foreign universities thus introducing new and
timely subjects and short-term courses.
Despite all odds in the country at
the moment, the S.L.C. examination 2060 is being
held without any disturbances. The number of
students to take S.L.C. this year is 3, 17,001
(2, 26,347 regular and 90,654 exempted). There are 905 centers
this year. Last year, there were 851 centers with total
number of students to appear in exam being
2,308,72 even though 2,84,024 students had
filled the forms.
Apart from customary Commerce,
Science, Arts and Education study, Kathmandu
Infotiser in this issue explores some other
happening faculties where students can join in
after the S.L.C. exams. And we have extended our
effort to include also something about the history of S.L.C.
in Nepal and the curriculum development.
TALE OF S.L.C. IN NEPAL
With a motive to start primary English education in Nepal,
the then Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana established Durbar
High School in Ashwin 27, 1910 BS only to
educate the children of the Rana family. It was
only in BS 1942 during the reign of Bir Shamsher
that Durbar High School was opened for the
public.
Durbar High School was affiliated to
the Calcutta University of India till 1980.
During that period students had to go to
Calcutta to sit for the examinations called
‘Entrance Exam’ (equivalent to today’s our S.L.C)
and the Nepali government used to bear all the expenses
on student accommodation and others during the students’
stay in Calcutta. In 1980 BS, Durbar High School got
affiliated to Patna University. Then on, the
students had to go to Patna to attend the S.L.C.
examinations. In 1986 BS, Patna University set
up its Examination Center in Kathmandu. A
superintendent from Patna University would bring question
papers to the Durbar High School and, after exams, would
take them back for checking and announcing results.
Till 1989 BS, Nepali language was not included
in the S.L.C. exams.
Finally, in 1950 BS, Patna University
agreed to set up its Examination Board in Nepal
and included Nepali language in its curriculum.
The S.L.C. Board which was established in
Kartik 16, 1990 BS saw only 34 students taking the exam
in its initial conduct. The students were from Durbar High
School and Patan High School (established 77 years
later than the Durbar High School).During the
reign of Dev Shamsher, about 50 schools inside
the valley and around 180 schools opened up in
the other parts of the country. One teacher for fifty
students was the effort that the ruler put into practice.
He even offered scholarship of 9 muri paddy and Rs 5
annually to further encourage students who
joined the Durbar High School.
After the advent of democracy in 1950 (2007 BS)
in the country, the educational sector too saw
positive changes. In 2008 BS Nepali Siksha Parishad was
established. Then in BS 2009, National Education Board was
established. The educational sector of Nepal saw
tremendous surge during the period 2028 BS –
2046 BS when the pre-existing educational
standard got entirely revised and modeled to
somehow meet the international standard. It was in this
period that pre-primary, primary and secondary level education
got separated. Late King Birendra made the
primary-level education free of cost in BS 2031.
And BS 2035 onwards the S.L.C. toppers at
national and district respectively got Rs 30,000
and 15,000. After BS 2043, the award was raised
to Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000.
HOW ARE S.L.C. EXAMS HELD?
The questions for S.L.C. are made to
cover all the aspects of the curriculum and are
designed to meet the efficiency of the students
with variant skills. The skilled teachers from
every subject make questions according to the curriculum
and then the questions are sent to specialists. After the
process, the questions get compiled, jumbled and are
made final. The final question sets are sent for
printing and are then seal-packed. After the
examination dates are confirmed, the board sends
them to different examination centers.After the exam, the
superintendent takes all the answer papers after
completing all the formal proceedings, i.e.
keeping record of the students and else, to the district
education office. The office sends the answer papers to
the destined place for evaluation. The answer papers,
after correction, come again to the office with
mark slips. The district office then sends those
answer papers to the office of controller of
examinations for the computer process and
ultimately the results are carried out.
In case a student loses his
certificates, he can fill an application form
with certain processing charge. After 2052 BS,
when decentralization process came into effect,
students can submit their application form at
their respective regional educational director’s office.
If a student is not satisfied with
the marks he has obtained, he/she can request
for retotaling, for which the student has to
submit the forms within 45 days of the results
paying a fixed processing charge. The applications
from all the regions get collected at the controller’s office.
The people at the controller’s office pick out the
related answer papers from the collection and
see for mistotalling. To verify the student’s
claim, three experts go through the paper and
ther report is cross-checked by a co-ordinator.
The paper then comes to the controller’s committee and if
the claim is found to be correct, the results are revised
EMERGENCE OF COLLEGES
Tri Chandra is the first college in Nepal and it was established
in BS 1969 by Chandra Shumsher. The college was
initially affiliated to the Calcutta University
and it started its I.Sc classes from BS 1977.
Other colleges started to appear when Tri
Chandra College gave permission for the private
colleges. Tribhuvan University (TU) was established in BS
2015 and many colleges were set up affiliated to TU. Higher
Secondary Education (+2) started from BS 2049. And
in BS 2056 Department of Education was formed.
EDUCATIONAL BOARDS
The Higher Secondary Education in
Nepal has got tremendous admiration. This board
has qualitative curriculum and good recognition.
All the HSEB affiliated colleges gather good
results annually. One advantage of studying under this board
is that the science students get choices to go for either
Engineering or Medicine after completing their +2
in Science while the I.Sc students under TU can
either go for engineering or medicine after the
completion of their studies. This is because
the students of I.Sc have to choose either biology
or mathematics in the first year itself and go for it in
the second year while the +2 students of science can choose
to study both bio and mathematics.
HISTORY OF UNIVERSITIES AND BOARDS IN NEPAL
Mahendra Sanskrit University – since BS 2043
Kathmandu University – since BS 2048
Tribhuvan University – since BS 2015
Pokhara University – since BS 2052
Purbanchal University – since BS 2051
HSEB – since BS 2049
AFTER S.L.C.
The wide-read subjects after S.L.C.
are – Humanities, Commerce, Science and
Education.
These subjects have their own charm
and where they lead one is quite clear to many
students. Besides that, there are many more
careers that the SLC graduates can opt for.
There are short term professional courses,
vocational trainings amd such. Some of such careers have
been discussed below:
FINE ARTS
Fine Art has a long history in Nepal.
The first school established was ‘Art School’ in
1903. The subject is the best for the creative
students. There are various Fine Arts colleges
in and outside the valley that provide intermediate courses
in Fine Arts. The Intermediate has classes on the basics
of drawing and painting, and sculpture. English and
Nepali are the compulsory subjects. While some
colleges don’t offer the graphic part of the
designing, some like Institute of Fine Arts, at
Ganabahal, a newly opened Fine Arts institution,
has such offering. Further into the course, classes on classical
instruments, classical dances, textile designing and
so forth are available.
FORESTRY
Forestry is one of the fields that
hold good future prospects for the students who
have completed S.L.C. This subject is also a
noble venture into forest conservation and constraining
the mounting environmental degradation. Nepal has two
institutions for forestry – one in Hetauda and
another in Pokhara, both affiliated to the
Tribhuvan University, offering certificate and
bachelors level studies. The course provides advanced
training in forestry and natural resource, conservation
and management. Additional responsibilities include
forestry research and development of technology
suitable for Nepal. The campuses of the
Institute of Forestry have laboratories,
woodlots, arboreta, horticulture research farms, computer
and other facilities.
Apart from the mainstream academic
courses, there are various vocational and
short-term courses that the students can pursue
after completing S.L.C. Some of the courses and
related institutions are listed below:
HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Hospitality management is a growing
field, globally. Colleges like NATHM (Nepal
Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Management)
offer access only after the completion of the intermediate
level. However, they also offer some short-term courses
on waiters, room boys, chefs, travel agents,
house-keeping, front office, barman etc. The
students can extend their career in different
hotels, restaurants and at many administrative
units after sincerely going through these courses.
SANSKRIT
After the completion of S.L.C.,
students can opt for Sanskrit studies. The
Intermediate in Sanskrit is called Uttar Madhyama.
There are various colleges in and outside the valley that
offer the intermediate course, all being affiliated to the
Mahendra Sanskrit University. After the
completion of Uttar Madhyama, students can
enroll to the bachelors’ level study, i.e.
Shastri and then masters level i.e. Acharya. Vedas,
Sanskrit Grammar, Literature, Astronomy are some of the
subjects that students have to study under the intermediate
curriculum. The study of Sanskrit leads students
to sectors like Archeology, Astrology,
Astronomy, Anthropology and so forth. The study
of Sanskrit helps the students in historical
research as all the holy books and ancient scriptures of
Hinduism and Buddhism are found to be written in Sanskrit
language or its derivatives: for example Pali, which
is the language of major Buddhist scriptures, is
derived from Sanskrit.
CTEVT COURSES
The Council for Technical Education
and Vocational Training (CTEVT) is the policy
formulation and coordinating body for Technical
Education and Vocational Training (TEVT) programs
in Nepal, which was constituted in 1989 (2045 BS). The CTEVT
is a national autonomous body committed to the growth and
development of basic and middle level workforce
for Nepal.
Presently, CTEVT is responsible for
the operation of 4 different kinds of training
programs. These are the programs in technical
schools, programs in technical instructor
training institutes, programs in Polytechnics
and programs in vocational training and community development
institutions. In addition, CTEVT is responsible for
certifying other training programs.
POLYTECHNICS
CTEVT has planned to establish five
polytechnics in each of the five development
regions but up to now, Hetauda Polytechnic
(Hetauda Polytechnic Pilot Project), Tansen Nursing School
and School of Health Science, Bharatpur are running as
polytechnic institutes.
School of Health Science at
Bharatpur, Chitwan is the first Technical school
(Polytechnic) under CTEVT to produce technical
manpower in general medicine This School
specially offers training on Health Assistant and minimum
requirement for the training is SLC passed candidates with
Science, Math and English subjects. It has annual
enrollment capacity of 60. Beside the regular
teaching programs, the school also has training
program on Jeevan Jal preparation, family
planning, mini medical camp etc.
Tansen Nursing School aims to produce
nursing manpower in Nepal. Though it has the
capacity of 75, it has aimed to produce 30 Staff
Nurse in each year. The school has been
offering three years’ training on Staff Nurse selecting
from the girls who have passed SLC in 2nd division or have
secured higher marks in Mathematics, Science and
English who apply for the course and pass the
entrance exam. The catchment area of the school
is all over Nepal.
Hetauda Polytechnic performs with a
small amount of financial support from UNESCO
which has been used for preparation of Project
Document, fencing of the land, Education Brief
and development of detailed master plan for the
project. CTEVT is seeking assistance for infrastructure
and human resource development as well as equipment necessary
for the Polytechnic. Hetauda Polytechnic has been
conducting short term training programs on
Industrial Wiring and Welding in Fiscal year
2056/57
PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS
Privately run technical schools are
operating with affiliation to CTEVT in different
districts. Provisional recognition has been
granted to private health and construction institutions,
the National Computer Training Center and one hairdressing
institute. Full recognition will be granted after a
period of satisfactory performance and the set
criteria are met. Till now, there are more than
165 affiliated private training institutes which
have covered 47 districts of Nepal. These
institutes have been offering courses on CMA, JTA, JT, ANM,
Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Ayurbedic, laboratory, AMIN,
Carpet Weaving, Wood Works, Dental, Auto-
Mechanic, Nature Pyathic, Therapy in
Acupacessure, Carpentry, Welding, General
Mechanics, Auto Mechanics and Food Technical Assistant.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Various computer courses, either
hardware or software are well suited for the
students of all levels. This is a technological
field with rising enrollment. After finishing SLC and while
waiting for the result, the students can best utilize their
time doing these courses, either in hardware or
in software. And some, who see enough future
prospects and lucrative part of it, go along it
and make a career despite the fact that this
field has no academic degree but professional
training. With mounting computer usage in our daily lives,
a career in computer-related field also generates good income
and earns wide recognition.
FASHION DESIGNING
Fashion Designing is also a lucrative
career and also is a formal entrance into the
field of glamour.
Fashion instituted around the world
offer variety of courses to train the students
practically for this profession. The local
institutes in Nepal offer the certificate level
courses which generally run up to 4 to 8 months.
In this level, students are taught computerized
art designing (CAD), graphic designing etc. To join the
diploma level studies one has to complete +2 or equivalent
level of studies.
“Students at any part of the country don’t have to feel insecure about exams.”
Birendra Singh,
Controller, S.L.C. Examinations
Q: What percentage of the students
taking S.L.C. exams this year do you think will
pass the exam?
A: I think it comes around 30-35%.
Q: The S.L.C. pass percentage has
not been a satisfactory one. What measures can be
applied to raise it?
A: The only way to increase the pass
percentage is that the schools should teach the
entire academic curriculum designed. Every
school should teach 220 days in a year to do
justice to the course. The teachers from every faculty
and students should regularly attend the school and the
guardians should check whether their children are
studying sincerely or not.
Q: S.L.C. examination has been held
region-wise since few years. Is this process
going to be made district-wise?
A: You know how Myagdi incident
troubled also the S.L.C. examination this year
in the western region. Question papers for that
region had to be prepared again. As a remedy to
this sort of problems, the idea of holding SLC examinations
in the district level would be kind of a rational approach
but this would take quite a time. Anyway, plans
are being made to make it at least zone-wise.
Q: It is heard that class 12 is
to be made the final school year instead of class 10.
Is it true?
A: If we have to synchronize our
educational system with the international
educational system, then we definitely need to
adopt the change. We have been doing homework to
conduct the final school examination at the end of class
12. When this system will be implemented the class 10
examination will then be held at district level.
You find many schools these days are higher
secondary schools and this in a way is the
change towards making class 12 the final school year.
Q: What special measures are there
to sort out any problem that may take place in any
of the examination centers?
A: We have made necessary arrangements
for immediate re-exams incase of any mishaps.
The teachers, experts and the superintendent at
any examination center have been given the authority
to make questions themselves and to hold the exams. This
way, I think students at any part of the country don’t
have to feel insecure about exams.
BRIDGE COURSES
There is said to be a huge gap between
S.L.C. and higher secondary education in Nepal.
To adjust the gap, almost all the colleges
provide bridge courses to the S.L.C. pass-outs.
After completing S.L.C. and before joining the formal classes
at any college, undergoing bride courses is a good idea
especially for the students who come from the
remote areas of Nepal and are weak in English.
However, opting for a right institute for the
bridge courses is important. Some colleges use
bridge courses as a trick to attract students
and taking bridge courses there won’t bear any fruits. Some
institutions like Alfa Beta Institute at Putalisadak provide
good bridge courses at a certain fee. The
program comprises Physics, Chemistry, Biology,
Mathematics, TOEFL & Entrance preparation
and practical classes for Pre - I. Sc and Boom,
Accounts, Travel and Tourism, Economics, Finance, TOEFL
for Pre-Management classes. These classes are so designed
that they profoundly help S.L.C. appeared students who
especially desire to study Science and
Management in Higher Secondary Schools and
colleges.
STUDENT VIEWS ABOUT THIS YEAR’S SLC EXAMS
How is the exam going on?
Good
What will you study after SLC?
Management
Why?
Because management has broader scopes.
Do you think the country’s present
situation has probable effects on S.L.C.?
Not at all. I don’t think Kathmandu has to fear from all these.
(Khagendra Ghale, Holyland Public Boarding School, New Baneswor)
How are you doing in exams?
It’s OK up to now. It was the third
paper. God knows what will happen tomorrow.
Were the questions tough?
No. But I am skeptical about the results.
Are you not confident of passing?
I am hopeful about that.
What you intend to study after S.L.C.?
Not decided yet. Let me wait to see
what comes in mind. I am free from my family to
choose it.
(Nirajan Rajbhandari, Bijaya Memorial School, Dillibazar)
Hope the paper was easy, right?
It was OK.
Won’t you pass?
I hope so.
What are your future plans?
I will study Computer Science.
Is it your preferance?
Both mine and my family.
(Nisan Kandel, Holyland Public Boarding School, New Baneswor)
You seem OK.
Yeah. I did it well.
Are you opting for Science?
Sure. That is my dream career. My
family too prefers to see me as a doctor.
Does the country’s situation have any effect on your studies?
Yes. Nothing is sure whether we will complete our exams or not.
(Srijana Lama, Bijaya Memorial School, Dillibazar)
How you did?
Fair. I will pass.
What after?
I will do Diploma in Engineering.
Great. Is it your personal choice or…?
Yes. My family has let me free to select a career for myself.
(Umesh Satyal, Bijaya Memorial School, Dillibazar)
-Sandeep & Sanjay
Courtesy: Infotiser Fortnightly Magazine
|
9:05 AM
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